The visitor arrival rate in Macao for the Lunar New Year holiday period, spanning 25 January to 4 February, reached 1.69 million or the equivalent of around 153,636 visitors per day, according to Police Security Police Force data cited by local media.
During the 11-day period, approximately 6.84 million inbound and outbound crossings were made across Macao’s various checkpoints, with tourists accounting for roughly 3.38 million of the total.
Between 28 January and 4 February, the Hengqin checkpoint clocked more than 600,000 visitor crossings, a record-breaking figure that represents a growth of 23.7 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, vehicle crossings at Hengqin exceeded 51,000 – an increase of 66.3 percent over the same period last year and another new record.
The local hotel industry benefited from the influx of visitors, with the president of the Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association, Cheung Kin Chung telling various news outlets that the performance during the holiday “has met industry expectations.”
[See more: Visitor arrivals slow as the Lunar New Year holiday draws to a close]
Cheung highlighted a jump in the number of tour groups in Macao, and said that the occupancy rates in hotels were “generally high, with some exceeding 90 percent.” He added that in some cases, there were properties that reached maximum capacity.
The Lunar New Year period was also a boon for local businesses in Taipa Village, which benefited from an uptick in foot traffic as a result of the pedestrianisation of the area between 29 January and 4 February. Around 30,000 people per day visited the village during this 7-day car-free period.
Anecdotal reports from Chinese language media outlets indicate that the business volume grew substantially for village shops, with one owner telling TDM that her transaction rate jumped by between three to five fold.
